David Wilcox, the owner of the Connecticut trucking company involved in July’s fiery chain-reaction accident in Avon, has been arrested on insurance fraud and other charges, according to the Associated Press. The arrest came Wednesday, Nov. 2, less than an hour after a Superior Court judge ordered the liquidation of his company, American Crushing and Recycling.
Wilcox’s company owned the dump truck that slammed into a group of cars on July 29, causing a chain-reaction crash that killed four people. State officials say the dump truck was not insured, but Wilcox allegedly tried to reinstate the insurance after the accident. A judge last month put the company in receivership at the request of lawyers for the victims’ families, who said Wilcox had been trying to sell off the company’s assets.
On Wednesday, Judge John Langenbach refused Wilcox’s request to remove the receiver and release those assets. Wilcox took the stand, but refused to answer any questions about the company, invoking his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Langenbach then accepted a report from the receiver, Bridgeport lawyer Matthew Beatman, who said the company is no longer viable.
